Renal denervation is a method whereby amplified sympathetic activities are suppressed. Amplified sympathetic activities and their associated systems are known to contribute to arterial hypertension. Thus, renal denervation is used to treat hypertension or other cardiovascular disorders and chronic renal diseases.
Renal denervation is achieved through destruction of afferent and efferent nerve fibers that run adjacent to the renal artery, which results in lower blood pressure in a patient. Renal denervation has also been shown to have benefits associated with treatment of heart failure, diabetes, obesity, sleep apnea, and ventricular tachycardia (VT). An established renal denervation procedure involves introducing a radiofrequency (RF) ablation catheter, which ablates renal nerves at 4 to 6 locations. The RF ablation catheter typically uses variable energy up to about 8 Watts. Usually, the operator's objective is to ablate at the lowest power possible for the least amount of time and at the fewest locations. Presently, no feedback mechanisms are available to provide the operator with insight about the efficacy of the renal denervation treatment during the treatment procedure. Thus, it is difficult for the operator to know whether further power and/or ablation locations are needed to accomplish adequate renal denervation.